In a rollicking scrap that started fast and had palpable tension
for just over four minutes of action, Henderson finished
Emelianenko with a booming right hand moments after being stunned
and seemingly put in trouble.

Now loser of three fights in a row after piling up a nine-year,
28-fight unbeaten streak, Emelianenko’s prime is decidedly behind
him -- albeit that prime is reflective of a great career and
belonged to the sport’s most accomplished heavyweight ever.

Henderson’s win also puts the Strikeforce light heavyweight champ
in a great position, with both the belt and a win over one of the
sport’s biggest names.

Dan
Henderson: In picking Henderson to win in my
Sherdog preview, the reasons were simple but based on
time-proven assumptions. The veteran has incredible punching power,
a stout chin, and didn’t figure to buckle when Emelianenko struck.
That scenario played out precisely, with Henderson hurting Fedor
with a big left hook in the opening moments, before the duo
clinched against the cage for a stretch, with little action until
being separated by referee Herb Dean. Then,
moments later, Fedor struck, landing a glancing right hand and then
a booming uppercut that put Henderson on decidedly thin ice.

But “Hendo” spun out from the bottom with a nice escape, and
snuffed out the rally and the fight itself, with a devastating
right uppercut on the turtled-up Emelianenko, who went limp to end
the fight (Fedor impressively woke up after being popped with a
couple more glancing blows -- but the fight was essentially
over).

Since losing a five-round decision to Jake Shields,
Henderson has registered three brutal knockouts in a row. This is a
huge win for him and given the likelihood of the
UFC absorbing Strikeforce,
gives him a great marketability boost should that happen.

Miesha
Tate: She said that her wrestling would make the
difference, but what Tate may have hedged on was an underrated
submission game. In a bout where she seemed to be tiring in the
third round, Tate surged in the fourth, setting up a nice
arm-triangle choke and driving it home to finish the job, winning
the 135-pound title in the process.

With Tate slated to defend against Sarah
Kaufman next, who defeated her via decision two years ago, the
Strikeforce women’s slate will have some helpful promotional mojo
and intrigue. Also, with Coenen’s win over Kaufman, this trio,
along with Liz
Carmouche, could make for some interesting fights at the top
level of the division.

Tim
Kennedy: Given a five-week training camp, there weren’t a
lot of ways Kennedy was going to beat Robbie
Lawler, but he executed a near-perfect game plan given the
style matchup. Hitting takedowns when he needed them and limiting
standup exchanges worked well for Kennedy in a bout that was
uneventful in spots with a dearth of standing action or meaningful
strikes landed.

Tarec
Saffiedine File Photo

Saffiedine abused Smith for three rounds.

Tarec
Saffiedine: Perhaps Saffiedine went into his bout with
Scott
Smith determined not to hurt the rally artist that is the
“Hands of Steel,” which has typically been a dangerous move for
Smith’s foes. That said, he utilized a full-spectrum attack to
outpoint and outclass Smith, who was largely relegated to firing
big strikes without setups, and couldn’t seem to get untracked.
Saffiedine was precise, consistent and workmanlike in his one-sided
conquest.

Hold

Tyron
Woodley and Paul Daley:
The welterweight showdown had added implications with Nick Diaz
vacating the Strikeforce title to challenge UFC champ Georges St.
Pierre. Both showed flashes of what makes them effective but
neither could really wrest control of the bout outside of Woodley’s
consistent takedowns in the first two rounds, which won the fight.
It’s the second straight decision win for Woodley where his
wrestling and little else dominated the fight.

Stock down

Fedor
Emelianenko: Three losses in a row means Emelianenko should
retire, in my opinion (tell me what you think below). Whether or
not he actually will is a question that will answer itself in the
future. It’s also a largely unimportant one in the context of the
current heavyweight division rankings, because he’s nowhere near
the top 20 at this point.

Marloes
Coenen: A tough loss for Coenen, whose improved wrestling
seemed to be powering a mid-fight surge on Tate. Style-wise, Coenen
is still a tough assignment with her calm demeanor and slick subs.
However, the submission loss to Tate cost her the belt and will
definitely require some re-tooling if she’s to make another run at
the title.

Robbie
Lawler: Normally an offensive dynamo, Lawler simply
couldn’t let his hands go against Kennedy. With his spry takedown
defense, scrambling and athleticism, Lawler’s one of the most
exciting sprawl-and-brawl artists in the game. But the duo’s styles
just seemed to cancel one another out, making the ground battle
more interesting than the standing phase of the bout.

Scott
Smith: I’ve always said that Smith should not be cutting to
170, as he’s simply too big for welterweight. Fighting Saffiedine,
Smith was unable to generate the volume of strikes and high-octane
combinations that defined his career as a middleweight. Perhaps
it’s the product of hard wars in his career, the weight cut, or
some combination of both. But tonight’s decision loss clearly
showed a fighter in decline. If he’s to continue competing, he
would be better served to do it at 185 where he’s got a puncher’s
chance if he connects. At 170 he looks like he’s fighting
underwater, and that’s not the Scott Smith fans are used to
seeing.